--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to think that driving, sleepless…" description: "\"I used to think that driving, sleepless, ambitious labor was what you needed to succeed.\" — Charles Kuralt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png" --- # I used to think that driving, sleepless, ambitious labor… ![“I used to think that driving, sleepless, ambitious labor was what you needed to succeed.” quote by Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png) > “I used to think that driving, sleepless, ambitious labor was what you needed to succeed.” [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He believed relentless work and sleepless ambition were essential for success, but later recognized balance matters. **In simple terms:** Hard work alone isn’t enough; balance matters. Key Takeaway Seek sustainable effort, not burnout. Themes work ethic balance success burnout ambition Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career building - entrepreneurship - personal health - family life Key Concepts productivity well‑being sustainability Questions to Reflect On - What does sustainable success look like for you? - How can you integrate rest without feeling guilty? A Different Perspective Neglecting rest can diminish creativity and health. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) [Driving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driving/) [Insomnia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insomnia/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Integrity is the most needed to succeed in business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/integrity-is-the-most-needed-to-succeed-in-business/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [May we gain the time needed to succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-r-wallace/may-we-gain-the-time-needed-to-succeed/) Frank R Wallace > [“Leadership was not only about taking charge, it was also about giving your team everything they needed to succeed, and then getting out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-thor/leadership-was-not-only-about-taking-charge-it-was-also-about-giving/) [Brad Thor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-thor/) > [The way you think is the driving force that fashions your world thereby governing the kind of life that you live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/the-way-you-think-is-the-driving-force-that-fashions-your-world/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [I think driving, at least for me, is a good way to listen to music. Sitting in traffic gives you time to listen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikal-cronin/i-think-driving-at-least-for-me-is-a-good-way-to-listen-to-music/) [Mikal Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikal-cronin/) > [I think driving in New York is a great experience. A lot more racing techniques go into it than anyplace else I've ever driven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-gordon/i-think-driving-in-new-york-is-a-great-experience-a-lot-more-racing/) [Jeff Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-gordon/) > [I think from a driving perspective, the great thing of being in a simulator a lot is that you can constantly work on areas.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-wolff/i-think-from-a-driving-perspective-the-great-thing-of-being-in-a/) [Susie Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-wolff/) > [I think that driving is the least important issue. We as women have a lot more things to tackle before we get to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lubna-olayan/i-think-that-driving-is-the-least-important-issue-we-as-women-have-a/) [Lubna Olayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lubna-olayan/) > [I always think about what I missed, and I think that was my driving force - never be satisfied with what I've done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thierry-henry/i-always-think-about-what-i-missed-and-i-think-that-was-my-driving/) [Thierry Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thierry-henry/) > [“All I could think about while driving after you was how it was about to happen all over again and that I would never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-madow/all-i-could-think-about-while-driving-after-you-was-how-it-was-about/) [Michelle Madow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-madow/) > [I think the driving thing was curiosity about the universe. That fascinated me. I didn't think anything about being famous or anything like that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-tombaugh/i-think-the-driving-thing-was-curiosity-about-the-universe-that/) [Clyde Tombaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-tombaugh/) > [“Right now I can't even control my own imagination as it grips my hair and drags me into the dark”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/right-now-i-can-t-even-control-my-own-imagination-as-it-grips-my-hair/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [For me being depressed means you can spend all day in bed, and still not get a good night's rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/for-me-being-depressed-means-you-can-spend-all-day-in-bed-and-still/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [ When they \[people with insomnia\] start worrying about not sleeping, I'll say, "Say the mantra to myself; if I don't sleep tonight, I'll likely… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-harris/when-they-people-with-insomnia-start-worrying-about-not-sleeping-i-ll/) [Shelby Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-harris/) > [“If you go to bed too early and get up too late you probably won't sleep especially well. This could show up as either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-a-lewis/if-you-go-to-bed-too-early-and-get-up-too-late-you-probably-won-t/) [Penelope A. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-a-lewis/) ## More by Charles Kuralt > [My parents encouraged me in everything I ever wanted to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/my-parents-encouraged-me-in-everything-i-ever-wanted-to-do/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-find-your-way-across-this-country-using-burger-joints-the-way/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I did stories about unexpected encounters, back roads, small towns and ordinary folk, sometimes doing something a little extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-did-stories-about-unexpected-encounters-back-roads-small-towns-and/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [When I worked in Los Angeles covering hard news, very often when something important would happen I'd be off in the woods covering something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/when-i-worked-in-los-angeles-covering-hard-news-very-often-when/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I would like to explore some side roads in life while I am still in good health and good spirits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-would-like-to-explore-some-side-roads-in-life-while-i-am-still-in/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [To read the papers and to listen to the news... one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/to-read-the-papers-and-to-listen-to-the-news-one-would-think-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [TV critics, who traditionally hate television and make their living writing about it, often didn't like what I did on the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/tv-critics-who-traditionally-hate-television-and-make-their-living/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/there-are-a-lot-of-people-who-are-doing-wonderful-things-quietly-with/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [It is liberalism, whether people like it or not, which has animated all the years of my life. What on Earth did conservatism ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/it-is-liberalism-whether-people-like-it-or-not-which-has-animated-all/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I didn't know what narcissism was until I beheld my own naricssus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-didn-t-know-what-narcissism-was-until-i-beheld-my-own-naricssus/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/a-country-so-rich-that-it-can-send-people-to-the-moon-still-has/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/good-teachers-know-how-to-bring-out-the-best-in-students/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [For a while there, I was a stringer. The expression comes from the old habit of stringing together the column inches that you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/for-a-while-there-i-was-a-stringer-the-expression-comes-from-the-old/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/there-is-melancholy-in-the-wind-and-sorrow-in-the-grass/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/often-i-have-been-exhausted-on-trout-streams-uncomfortable-wet-cold/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) [Explore all 89 Charles Kuralt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I used to think that driving, sleepless, ambitious labor was what you needed to succeed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Kuralt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-ambitious-labor-was-what-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-ambitious-labor-was-what-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51f/charles-kuralt-7624_ambition_i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-a_3180004.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I used to think that driving, sleepless, ambitious labor was what you needed to succeed.” — Charles Kuralt", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Kuralt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I used to think that driving,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-ambitious-labor-was-what-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-used-to-think-that-driving-sleepless-ambitious-labor-was-what-you/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```